blessing

This soft grey cusp of Spring 

   after an evening chasing the borealis 

I set fire to a etched part on forty-years-ago pages 

inked in a hollow longing for something more something shiny something rich 

I set fire under an overcast cool sky on the cusp of Spring 

white smoke rising in curls & swirls of forgiveness 

     smoke proportional to the sorrow 

     the rising equal to the promise of blue 

white smoke rising 

   tears in eyes 

   smoke in hair 

whispering prayers 

to the hollow longing part

whispering prayers aloud 

   to the promise collide of self & cloud 

           and unexpectedly under a sky opening to blue 

                   it began to snow 

Five Answers to the Same Questions

I. 

daffodils 

great horned owls 

laughter times truth 

reasons 

rhymes and pink chalk lines 

red bird songs

the color blue 

II. 

antelopes 

jack-a-lopes 

marma-chuck-your-sweetie 

bubble gum notes 

small hands close

maples & oaks 

heart's entreaty 

III. 

feathers & things 

all flying things 

dog's breath & kisses 

sorrow's bursting epistle 

what fools who travel 

this path 

fates fancy dash 

IV. 

tight-rope balance 

high-flying kites 

forests & rivers 

time moves so fast 

buckled in 

yet groundless 

boundless 

V. 

red maples & honeysuckle 

cedar wax-wing's song 

lavender sunflowers 

everything can go wrong 

so many things right 

hold most things loosely 

hold hope & constellations tight 

close your eyes

take flight

 

україни

this same sun 

this same sky 

these same stars 

shine at night 

how to make sense of a war we can't see or hear 

no circling bombs only clouds & birds 

here 

the same sun shines 

rising each day 

the same sky of blue 

lifts cares away 

may these stars guide all 

to rest & peace 

to those who seek respite & ease 

away from war 

away from fear 

away from homes they hold so dear 

towards better days 

towards open arms 

may it cease today ....  this unholy time 

one sun 

one sky 

one prayer unites 

one wish for all 

for peace tonight 

VI

this isn't about love

nor about the tracing of maps upon skin-streets 

not about needs wants

60 days

kisses

or the shape i found you in

it is the feel

of my body--this body striving to be all it can

bones of hand swollen and aching

reaching

struggling

learning

rebelling

skin becoming creped, freckled from age

not sun-kissed and peachy

as before

as before

bones thinning

remembering

refusing to listen 

heaviness

lingering

in hips waist thighs

heaviness

oh reckless youth

what i would trade for the effortless birthright of ease of movement

coltish awkwardness & strength

     and joy

i ache

from the grinding of bone upon bone

muscle against the gravity of the moon

and the space between where we are and where we want to be

held there by the tautness of your will

parts in June

 These parts sit in a yellow jar upon a wooden shelf next to an open window 

there is a elementary blue flower on the jar 

I don't really like yellow 

but there it is 

dust motes have settled around & on 

as

I don't open it anymore 

surrender is in there smelling of summer grass & garden soil 

under a gazebo at midnight 

also there is ecstasy 

and love 

I suppose 

though it is hard to separate that from the birds 

unfinished

 someday i will be a thing before 

a thing before the prairie grass 

before this fragile heart & skin took hold 

a thing before the feel of, the smell of spring waking 

someday i will be a thing before the years turn you tall & wise 

and i will be fire & light 

       striving to make a mark upon trees & spirit 

before the ribbon of night becomes brilliant 

someday I will be a thing before 

age of noticing

dew to dragon scale 

where once was possibility lies now the possible 

bearing witness to transformation 

subtle mighty curse 

shadows become familiars where once was light 

turbulence comes to tea daily 

bearing witness to love's champagne fire 

dew to dragon scale 

gom

of fire brimble, ghosts & dogs
to seek respite before the dawn
thick
grows regret from murky depths
rise from folds velvet sighs the breath
be quick!
fleeting we touch our shine
be quick!
the hawk will dive & dine
linen bones forgotten lore
solace echoes from the open door
what seeds may fall
what dreams may come
unbidden
hidden
become

of atmosphere gimlets, brambles & grace
passing cars--tempting fates
anger buried in knots pink & brined
next to heart's bruised crinoline
be quick!
sit sit sit
before the shrine
be quick!
cooper's hawk's forgotten valentines
moonlight lingers
day awaits
hyacinth green & crocus fingers
forbidden
forgiven
undone

be quick!
to what end this enterprise?
long the day--brief the night
viewed from this bended rhubarb light
why the hurry, why this press for time?
a fool's quickness love's secret rhyme
be still!
we have ten thousand years and a day
to hold the space
to steal fear's play
become
what seeds may fall
what dreams may come
meander thru the morning's hours
of lullaby bones & silver bowers
be still
sit
listen
await
await
we are sky's vast template
be still
no hurry
just allow
the breath the pace of here & now

fortunate longing

tucked against the hollowness of this wind
i rest
easy and complete
without need of anything more than a trace of snow 

and the promise of cranes dancing upon this shallow winter river
tumbling smoothly east 

     some fractured quantum dream of spring 

this is what it feels like without you
hollow-cool 

marginally poetic 

    a scent of belonging 

    a song of river & wild 

a promise of .....